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Chapter One
Goblin Ambush While leading a wagon load of mining supplies east along the Triboar Trail from Neverwinter towards Phandalin for Gundren Rockseeker the three strangers who would one day come to be known as The Hanged Three were ambushed by a group of goblins. The Three made short work of them and began searching for where they came from. It became clear that they had also ambushed Gundren and his friend Sildar Hallwinter and dragged them to the northwest. The party set out in pursuit, losing one of their horses to a pit trap laid along the trail by the goblins. After a 5-mile hike the party arrived at the mouth of the Goblin's Cave. After dispatching the goblin sentries outside and the chained wolves near the entrance the party narrowly avoided a devious goblin trap, a torrent of water released to surge through the cave. Realizing that they were near a cavern full of goblins the party tried to stupefy them with a magic laser light show. This seemed to utterly confuse the goblins but the sudden appearance of a goblin/tiefling hybrid caused one of them to panic and shoot Melech. A melee ensued that ended when the goblin leader Yeemik threatened the life of his prisoner Sildar Hallwinter. Yeemik demanded that in exchange for Sildar the party kill the bugbear chief of the cavern, Klarg. Klarg was apparently given command by someone known as King Grol but he proved to brutal for the ambitious Yeemik. The party purchased the services of a goblin guide from Yeemik and fought their way to Klargs cave. Vohrun's keen eyes spotted an ambush and the party slew Klarg and his pet wolf. During the melee two goblins slipped away after rummaging through some of the nearby cargo. After the fighting subsided Melech slew the parties goblin guide to reclaim Diva's hammer. The party recovered from their grueling fight with Klarg and rifled through the crates and barrels stored within his cave. They found a treasure chest containing silver pieces, a single undamaged potion of healing and a jade frog figurine with golden eyes. The party secured a barrel of oil and parleyed once more with the goblin Yeemik who was pleased with his new-found status as chief. The party got Sildar Hallwinter to safety then sprung a trap on the Yeemik's goblins, wiping them out. Phandalin The party then continued their journey to Phandalin, delivering the wagon load of supplies to Elmar Bathon. He indicated the the Rockseeker brothers were looking for the long lost legend of the "Wave Echo Cave", which Melech and Diva remembered from local folklore. The party also inquired as to the location of the remaining Rockseekers with Halia Thornton and the Phandalin Miner's exchange but she wasn't sure where they might be found. Halia mentioned that the Redbrand brigade had been harassing the townpeople and making themselves a nuisance, led by a mysterious figure known as "Glass-staff". The party quickly swung by the trading post of the Lionshield Coster to inform them of the location of their pillaged goods before heading to the Sleeping giant taproom, apparently a favorite haunt of the Redbrands. In the Sleeping Giant the party found themselves (instigated?) in a deadly bar-fight that left the party bloodied and the Redbrands dead. The battered halfling bartender Grista was caught in the crossfire and was severely wounded. Melech and Vohrun interrogated a surviving Redbrand finding out the following information: - The Redbrands maintain a hideout underneath the old collapsed manor overlooking town. - The hideout has two entrances, one through the cellar of the manor and another cave entrance south of the Manor - A hideous one-eyed creature guards the cavern entrance Melech slew the Redbrand prisoners and he and Vohrun moved their bodies outside. The pair then took Diva and Grista to Sister Garaele at the Shrine of Tymora for healing. The sister looked after the wounded and expressed relief that someone had taught the Redbrands a lesson. Trusting the party after they stood up for the people of Phandalin she asked them to undertake a quest that she had attempted but failed. She has a group of friends who are looking for the location of the spellbook of a wizard named Bowgentle. She asked the party to inquire as to the books location with a mysterious being named Agatha near the runs of the village of Conyberry and gave the party a Jeweled Silver Comb to give to Agatha as a gift. The party left Sister Garaele's abode and entered the Stonehill Inn for the evening. There Vohrun delighted the patrons with his repertoire while Diva and Melech caught up with Sildar. He informed them of his plans to establish a constabulary in town and urged the party to find Gundren Rockseeker and his missing mage friend Iarno Albreck, also of the Lords Alliance. Melech grew suspicious that Iarno may be the mysterious "Glass-Staff" who leads the Redbrands. The party also heard a rumor about a team of prospectors who were scared away from the area around Old Owl Well. Apparently the prospectors spoke to Daran Edermath before leaving the town. The following morning the party accompanied Sildar to the Townmasters office to meet the local official. Outside of the townmaster's office was a note stating only "REWARD - Orcs near Wyvern Tor". Upon entering they met the townmaster, Harbin Wester, a fat pompous and frankly terrified fool. He encouraged the party not to start trouble with the Redbrands and was determined not to get involved. Redbrand Hideout The party walked to the edge of town and found the cavern entrance to the Redbrand hideout below the ruins of Tresendar Manor. Upon entering the cavern the party encountered a one-eyed beast who tore through their minds in search of secrets and information. Melech dealt with the creature by "convincing" it to leave the cavern. Shortly thereafter the party encountered and slew a group of three bugbears tormenting a goblin slave. In another room Melech bluffed his way into a card game with several inebriated ruffians. He accused one of their number (rightfully) of cheating and instigated a melee between them. The party then rushed and slew the remaining members when they began to question Melech's disguise. The party then found a rather well stocked and furnished alchemical laboratory and bedroom. A hidden door was cracked on the far side of the bedroom, whoever was occupying it apparently fled the party's approach. The party quickly searched the room, finding a small treasure chest and a handwritten note saying the following "My spies in Neverwinter tell me that strangers are due to arrive in Phandalin. They could be working for the dwarves. Capture them if you can, kill them if you must, but don't allow them to upset our plans. See that any dwarven maps in their possession are delivered to me with haste. I'm counting on you, larno. Don't disappoint me". The letter was signed with the mark of a black spider. The party set off in pursuit of fleeing occupant of the bedroom, following a series of hidden doors to the Crypt of the Tresendar family. There they defeated the skeletal guardians of the crypt and looted the sarcophagi. The party continued their assault on the Redbrand Hideout, attacking the prison where the Redbrands had locked away the surviving members of the Dendrar family. The party slew the prison guards and freed the distraught family. The party then pushed forward, confronting Iarno "Glass-Staff" Albrek, traitor to the Lords Alliance and leader of the Redbrands in Phandalin in the cistern below the manor. As the tide of battle turned against Iarno he fled the battle, doggedly perused by the party. As he was about to flee through the doors of the Tresendar crypts an expertly thrown hammer by Diva felled him in his steps. The party stabilized the criminal wizard and rescued the Dendrar family along with another prisoner, the dwarf Nundro Rockseeker, brother to Gundren. Nundro related the limited details of his and his brother Tharden's capture to his rescuers and expressed dismay that Gundren was also abducted by goblins. He urged the party to make haste to the fabled Wave Echo Cave, where he last saw his brother Tharden and where he hopes Gundren can be found as well. Back in the village the party delivered their captive Iarno into the custody of Sildar Hallwinter, who had apparently been busy subduing and interrogating several Redbrands that were still in the village. He urged them again to rescue the remaining Rockseekers so that the Wave Echo Mine could be reopened, providing the prosperity necessary to undo the decline brought about by the unsafe roads and the predations of the Redbrands. Mirna Dendrar was unable to repay the party for their rescue but she informed them of a cache of family heirlooms, buried beneath the counter of her ancestral home in the destroyed village of Thundertree. The party then turned in for the day at the Stonehill Inn, where the townspeople were remarking on the sudden disappearance of the Redbrands. The party, freshly rested paid the captive Iarno Albreck a visit in his cell. There they interrogated him and found him rather cooperative, if somewhat annoyed. The party learned (if he was telling the truth) that he his plans involved trade on the Triboar Trail and that they were distinct from the objectives of the "Black Spider" who he identified as a single, though unknown individual. Eastward Excursion The party then journeyed to the ruins of the town of Conyberry to seek out Agatha, hoping she could provide information that they lacked. The party managed to convince the being to manifest, showing itself to be an ancient Banshee. Vohrun charmed the spirit sufficiently for her to answer a single question by offering the silver comb provided by Sister Garaele. Before he could ask for the location of Bowgentle's spellbook for the good sister, Melech interjected with a question of his own, seeking the name of the man who deeply injured him in the past. This man was shown by the Banshee to be Perin Falcrest, the scion of a trading company that operates along the sword coast from Baulder's gate to Luskan. Melech and Diva tried to rouse the spirit for a second question, angering the Banshee and leading to their rapid withdrawal from her home. Vohrun left behind the Jade frog he took from Klarg's lair as an apology to the apparition. Given their proximity to Old Owl Well the party decided to journey there before returning to Phandalin. When they approached they found a hoard of zombies performing an excavation of the ancient waystation. The zombies attacked on mass, driving the party up to the ruined ramparts. Melech turned back the hoard by utilizing the scroll of fireball taken from Iarno's study. The sound of the blast drew a Red wizard of Thay named Hamun Kost out of the tower. He lamented the loss of his undead laborers but did not prove outwardly hostile. He agreed to research the location of Bowgentle's Spellbook in return for the elimination of the nearby orc raiding party that has taken up residence at Wyvern Tor. He, however was careful to avoid promising any results. The party assaulted the Orc's cave, laying waste to the tribe and their pet Ogre in a pair of pitched battles. The party looted the Orcs treasures and made their way back to the Thayan mage Hamun Kost to collect their reward. He was true to his word and gave them the only information he could find, that the last sighting of the mage Bowgentle was in the city of Iriaebor, far to the southeast in the western heartlands. Diva, enraged at the mage's arrogant use of necromancy on innocent men attacked the mage's minions in a rage. The party managed to slay the wizard and claim his possessions as their own. Melech used his scroll of Charm Person during the melee, causing it to crumble to dust. Hoodwinked The Three returned to Phandalin from their excursion to the eastern reaches of region. The collected their reward from Sister Garaele, which consisted of 3 potions of healing she had brewed them and a token of favor with the Harpers, a semi-secret organization dedicated to promoting good, preserving history and maintaining a balance between civilization and nature by keeping kingdoms small and the destruction of life to a minimum. The party also collected a reward from Townmaster Harbin for clearing the eastern stretch of the Triboar Trail of Orcs. After some brief haggling over the relative merits of medium armor the Party accompanied Nundro Rockseeker to the supposed location of Wave Echo Cave. Upon inspecting the cave however the party was ambushed with a powerful sleep spell. Diva and Melech saw Nundro transform into a strange being and overhead it conversing with a dark elf. The pair seemed to be well aware of the party's actions and confirmed that the Redbrands and goblins were wrapped up in their machinations. They then indicated that the party would serve adequately as slaves to buy off King Grol to ensure his continued cooperation. The party was once more cast into sleep and was awoken by the creaking and jostling of wagon wheels. The party freed themselves from their restraints just as the goblin-led wagon came under assault by the forces of nature. After the ensuing melee the party met Reidoth, a human druid who had taken to culling the goblins to keep their numbers in check. He told the party where they might find King Grol's stronghold under the condition that they mean King Grol ill intent. Cragmaw Castle The party began their assault on the stronghold under the cover of darkness. They first attempted to enter the side entrance, but upon finding that it was locked, Melech and Vohrun attempted unsuccessfully to sneak in the front door. The load bang of Vohrun's spell alerted Diva who battered down the locked door and charged into the interior. Meanwhile the Vohrun and Melech fought their way through the goblin ranks. Eventually the party converged on the mess hall of the goblins, slaying all who stood in their way. The party rested briefly after their battle in the goblin mess hall. They were roused from their rest by the sound of approaching footsteps. Diva, thinking quickly, blocked the approach with one of the tables. The party rebuffed the attack by hobgoblins and continued their exploration of the Castle. Diva, through a combination of luck and sharp eyes detected a trapped door before the party. The party entered the former chapel of the castle, slaying a fearsome Grick, a goblin acolyte and his two attendants. Diva recovered the religious implements from the alter, vowing to return them to their proper faiths. In the supply room of the castle the party recovered Sildar Hallwinter's equipment and Melech set fire to the goblins provisions. The party pressed further onward, eliminating another pair of hobgoblins before coming to a door, behind which a pair of voices argued. The party burst in, finding a Drow arguing with a massive bugbear, who could be none other than King Grol, arguing over their captive, Gundren Rockseeker. The party (very) rapidly slew Grol and his wolf, and subdued the Drow, who was revealed to be the shapeshifter that had impersonated Nundro earlier. The party interrogated the creature before exterminating it from world. The party healed Gundren who expressed his thanks for his rescue. The party seized King Grol's treasure and Gundren's map to Wave Echo Cave before departing the castle for Phandalin. Wave Echo Cave Upon arriving in Phandalin the Three quickly set to resupplying themselves for the fight ahead. After adding a few improvised weapons to their packs and getting Gundren some much needed hair of the dog they set out for Wave Echo Cave, led by Gundren, with Sildar accompanying them. Upon entering cavern they encountered a vicious owlbear devouring a slain dwarf. The beast did not go down easy but eventually they slew it with their combined efforts. Descending deeper in the cave they entered the old mining tunnels and were set upon by an amorphous yellowish jelly creature. This creature maimed Sildar and Vohrun with its acidic pseudopods and split in half when attacked with Sildar's sword. After slaying the creature the party recovered two vials of acid from its corpse. The party continued to wind through the numerous mine tunnels, hearing the booming thunderous echoes emanate from deeper in the cave. Eventually they found an old dwarven barracks inhabited by a trio of ghouls. The party made a stand at the door, with Melech using his dark magic to make a medieval claymore mine. After that the party made quick work of the beasts and Diva set to providing long overdue last rights to the dwarven skeletons within the chamber. The party continued on to the south. They were ambushed by ravenous Stirges who nearly killed Sildar Hallwinter. The party rallied however and slew the beasts before following the bioluminescent light of a fungal carpet to another room. The fungus reacted to their presence by spewing poisonous spores into the air. The party burned out a portion of the fungus but was forced to pull back by the mixture of smoke and spores. Turning towards the collapsed entrance to the cave the party looted the Assayer's office, Melech cleverly using the acid harvested from the Ochre Jelly to break into a steel lock-box. In the adjacent guardroom the party found the remains of a number of the dead dwarven defenders of the mines, who rose up and attacked. Vohrun let loose a blasting Shatter spell, demolishing the majority of the skeletons, leaving the party to mop up the survivors. Diva once more provided dignified last rights to the deceased before the party moved on through the fungal cavern to find another larger chamber, this one with two human-sized buildings constructed within it. In the first building the party was challenged by the wraith of one of the human wizards of the Phandelver Pact. Diva steeled herself behind her shield and her faith and struck blow after blow on the spirit with a divine hammer. Vohrun and Melech contributed to the volley of spells, obliterating the apparition. The party looted the wizards chest and found a well-preserved vellum covered in changing arcane script. Pooling their collective knowledge and divine guidance the party deduced that the document was actually an arcane cipher of some sort, though what it decodes remains unknown. The exploration through the mines had proven trying so the party settled in for a rest in the wizards abode. The party continued their exploration of Wave Echo Cave, leaving the wizards abode and heading to the other human-sized building built into the starry-night cavern. There they breached the damaged door to find the mythical spellforge of the Phandelver wizards, guarded by a hideous floating eye creature known as Wesley. The party attempted to convince the creature that they were sent to conduct an inspection by the creature's master that it referred to as Uther. With the help of a magical suggestion from Melech the party was successful and they began their search of the workshop. Quickly Vohrun decided to dispatch the guardian, pulling the wool over its eyes...literally. The party tried to slay the beast in a chaotic melee as Vohrun attempted to wrestle it to the ground. During the battle Melech used his scroll of darkness to plunge the room into blackness, only to find the magical light of the spellforge shone through it. Eventually the party killed the beast, which faded from existence as it died. The party then each laid claim to the final works of the Phandelver Pact, Lightbringer, Dragonguard, and Keeper of the Pact. The party continued to a room containing a massive furnace, smelter and bellows powered by a waterwheel in a dry channel. Diva, sensing the glow from within the furnace was animate slammed the door shut. The party then began to operate the bellows, before the creature burst through the bellows in a shower of flame, revealing itself to be a floating skull wreathed in flame. The undead being pelted the party with fire before eventually being put down by the force of Lightbringer, in Diva's hand. The party then continued west, assaulting the Bugbear forces of the Black Spider who had barricaded themselves in an old dwarven barracks. The party rested briefly after barricading themselves in an old dwarven barracks. As they gathered their things up and prepared to leave Diva heard the approach of footsteps. Soon it became clear that the party was surrounded. Blocking one door with a fire and the other door with a magic circle of warding laid down by Diva, the party braced themselves for battle. The resulting battle as a pack of feral ghouls burst through the door was decisive, with Melech annihilating nearly half the enemies numbers with a fireball in the first seconds of the fight. The party moved on finding a single bugbear excavating something at the bottom of a chasm. Vohrun, with magical assistance from Diva tricked the creature into climbing up a rope before cutting it... Twice. Melech then finished the creature with a volley of eldritch magic. Vohrun took his trusty pick and continued the excavation that the bugbear had begun, finding another ancient fallen dwarven defender. There was a moment of silence for the fallen dwarf and Diva took from the body a pair of fine dwarven steel gauntlets that when equipped gave her strength rivaling an ogre. The party then found in the deepest section of the mines, a large set of double doors bearing the symbols of the dwarven God Dumathion, god of mining. Entering the temple the party encountered the Drow who had ambushed them earlier, the being behind the attacks by both the Redbrands and Grol's goblinkin. The Drow attempted to bribe the party with promises of power and magic from the spellforge but was unable to sway them. The resulting battle was fierce and was joined by the Drow's bugbear and a group of giant spiders under the Drow's command. The party emerged victorious, in no small part to Vohrun disabling the the drow with a fear spell in the opening moments of the battle. In the end the Black Spider was captured and the real Nundro Rockseeker was rescued. Rather than aid his captors the Black Spider used magical darkness to create a distraction long enough for him to sever his own tongue, allowing him to keep his secrets for the time being. Upon return the Phandalin the party was greeted by Townmaster Harbin and several of the prominent citizens of the village. They offered the party a final reward for their efforts to aid the town, ownership of the ruined Tresendar Estate which overlooks the town from a nearby Motte. Continued in Chapter Two... Category:Story